Bridges
by thrxnduils
Summary: At the beginning, Rose hated Scorpius. But the years she spent building bridges have brought other feelings bubbling to the surface as well. Both intelligent, witty and sharp-tongued, she tries hard to hate the charming, smooth, bad boy with a reputation and a penchant for mischief. But fate would have other plans. (Rated M for later chapters. Please R&R if you like!)
1. Chapter 1

**Hi all! My Dramione heart loves these two. It's my first fic in a while. If you enjoy, please leave a review and let me know! I hope you don't regret clicking the link and opening the story.**

'I can't believe this is your final year already, Rose.'

Rose rolled her eyes good-naturedly at her mother. Hermione beamed back at her, Ron at her side.

'Now you know how important this year is for you. NEWTs will be challenging, but you'll be wonderful as you always are. Oh, Rose.'

'You have Granger blood in your veins,' Ron piped in. 'Don't worry about a thing, sweetheart.'

'And keep an eye on Hugo!' Hermione said shrilly. 'You know he has OWLs this year too. And he likes trouble.'

'Not more than you, dad and Uncle Harry did,' Rose giggled. 'Anyway, since he's started he's been great, Mum. He and Lily are thick as thieves.'

She turned and saw Hugo approaching them.

This was always such a busy time of year. The Platform was bustling, full of people chatting, crying, laughing – between the billows of smoke the Hogwarts Express sent churning into the sky.

'Okay Mum. I'll be off now. I love you both! I'll write as soon as I can!'

'Love you too, Rosie,' her parents chorused. She let herself be swept into a tight embrace and fussed over one last time, then turned to step onto the train. She heard a faint 'OOF!' behind her, as Hermione clutched Hugo to her chest.

She tossed her long red hair over one shoulder as she made her way down the corridor. This she had inherited from her father, as well as the her intense blue eyes that only softened when she was at her calmest. She had her mother's petite, neat nose, and a smattering of little freckles across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She was beautiful, in a sense of the word. Not Fleur Delacour's type of shimmering, breath-taking, knee-dropping beauty. Beautiful in the sense that her eyes shone and sparkled and squinted when she laughed. Beautiful in the sense that her smile was infectious when it was sincere. A beauty all the same.

The train journey to Hogwarts was always a little bit awkward. Her best friend, Albus Potter, was best friends with Scorpius Malfoy. 'Best friends' sounded a bit lax. She supposed a better choice of words would be 'Albus and Scorpius were practically joined at the hip and one couldn't possibly exist without the other.'

She trusted Albus' decision to be such close friends with Scorpius, but she never let her own guard down. Many times she had heard the arguments at home about the trustworthiness of the Malfoys, their past, their history. How Draco Malfoy had used unforgivable terms to describe her mother. And while Hermione had done her best to reassure Rose that the state of affairs today was very different to that in the 90s, Rose always retained the opinion that somewhere deep down, Scorpius had traces of the malignant, arrogant idiot his father had been.

He had Draco's piercing eyes and sleek blonde hair. He was tall, he was athletic (Captain and Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team), he was _striking_. At 17, he and Albus were known as the 'power twins' of Hogwarts – the two smirking, handsome Slytherins with disarming grins and a penchant for mischief. Rose remembered his earnest attempts to flirt with her in their first year, and how easy it used to be to ignore him. But as the years passed, the attempts became less earnest. Scorpius had gained a reputation, and as he grew older, so did his 'bad-boy' standing among the girls at school. They kept him busy. But being Albus' best friends, Rose still saw him more than she would have liked to. And he never failed to give her a rougeish wink or throw a sly comment in her direction. It scared her a little, that as she grew from eleven to fourteen, fourteen to sixteen, and now a young woman at seventeen – that every time she grudgingly thought about those eyes and that wink, she felt an odd little sensation in her stomach.

 _Oh well,_ she thought, heading down the train corridor. _I still don't like him._

Rose found an empty compartment, tossing her sweater onto the opposing seat to save it for Albus when he came in. She pulled the newest novel she was reading – a Muggle book that contained magic folk called _Lord of the Rings._ She wondered if wizarding folk wrote much about Muggles in return. Either way, it was a splendid read thus far. She had just opened it to her bookmark, when the cabin door slid open. She couldn't help her automatic eye roll.

'Hello, Miss Granger-Weasley.'

Scorpius grinned a dazzling, self-satisfied grin at her, before settling himself comfortably on her sweater on the seat opposite her. In typical Malfoy style, he was wearing all black – tailored dress pants, polished shoes, a black turtleneck, and a leather jacket thrown over it. He was always a little more _grunge_ than his father.

'That's Albus' seat. Get off my sweater.'

'Oh, this is yours?'

Scorpius tugged the green sweater from under him, and held it to his face. 'Mmm. Smells nice.'

'Give it back to me.'

'I'm smelling it! Don't interrupt my smelling!'

'It's MINE-'

The door slid open again, and Albus hurried in as they felt the train begin to move, a windswept, less-polished version of Scorpius. His messy black hair and brilliant green eyes always made Rose wonder how a son could so closely resemble his father.

'Oh come on, the entire school doesn't need to hear you two going at it again.'

'Have to make a solid impression on the first years, Al,' said Scorpius matter-of-factly.

Rose grabbed the sweater from him, slightly pink in the face from yelling. 'A solid impression that you're as annoying as they come.'

'I'm almost sure that everyone in this school who is not you would disagree,' Scorpius yawned. 'Anyway, seventh year, huh?'

'I'm pretty terrified about exams but seventh year is always supposed to be incredible,' Albus replied. 'I mean – not as incredible as Dad's - but you know.'

Scorpius nodded.

'Maybe Rose will finally realize green is not her colour.'

'Maybe Scorpius will fail all his NEWTs,' Rose shot back. 'A girl can dream.'

'Well one way or the other, you just confirmed that all the girls in school do, in fact, dream about me.'

Rose ground her teeth together, aggressively turning the page of her book.

They were interrupted as the door slid open again. It was Gwen Posey, a pretty, dark haired Ravenclaw girl one year below them. She was holding a chocolate frog.

'Scorpius, I thought I saw you come in here.'

'Hi Gwen,'.

Albus rolled his eyes at the exchange happening on either side of him.

Rose felt her face arrange itself into a look of mild disgust at the girl, before she could stop herself.

Gwen held out the card at him. 'I got this for you. It's a Severus Snape card, I know you collect and wanted one..'

Scorpius smiled at her, and Rose felt herself becoming nauseous at the giddiness on Gwen's pretty face. He reached out an arm and took the card.

'Thanks, Gwen. You always know just what I like.'

Gwen received Scorpius' wink with even more giddiness and backed out of the cabin.

'Ah yes,' Rose said, with gusto. 'What would Hogwarts be without you two and your crazed fans?'

'You know Rosie,' Albus said. 'According to my dad, you have Aunt Hermione's temper as well as her brains.'

'I'm honoured.'

Whenever someone called her 'Rosie', it always brought a little smile to her lips. Albus and Scorpius soon settled into their ceaseless chat, and Rose leant back into a comfortable position with her book. She felt a strange multitude of things – the well-known comfort of Al and Scorpius' back-to-school chat, the warmth of the cabin, the familiar joy enshrined in the sound of the train battering along the tracks to the castle..

And a very strange urge to whack Gwen Posey across the head with a very large book.

 **Well there you have it! My first chapter. Let me know what you think :) all responses welcome. X**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Hi all! Slightly shorter than CH1, but I'm trying to pace myself in getting to the points I want. Do enjoy x_**

Rose always felt a little bit homesick when she thought of her parents, but readapting to Hogwarts life was one of the easiest things she'd ever had to do. She loved the hustle and bustle of life between classes, robes whizzing past her, the smell of ink and parchment, a thousand frantic voices, a thousand searching eyes. She loved evening walks along the Quidditch pitch – loved her picnics with Al by the Great Lake. Hogwarts was _home._ It had always been special for her parents, and it would always be for her.

In an effort to be diplomatic, it had been noted that the Hogwarts staff weren't keen on awarding the title of Head Girl or Head Boy to neither her, nor Al, nor Scorpius. She supposed it was logical. Favouritism would surely be the first call – the child of a Weasley and a Granger, or the child of Harry Potter. Scorpius – she ground her teeth at the thought – she was sure had put in a special request not to be considered. He was a stellar academic, an athlete, and as charming as the Slytherins came, but he had (under instructions from his father, she assumed) declined even being considered.

But even so, their student history could not be excused. Both Rose and Scorpius were selected to be Special Seventh Year Prefects. In short, this was a fancy term for _Well-If-You-Can't-Be-Head-Boy-And-Girl-We'll-Pretend-To-Be-Professional-About-This-But-Still-Give-You-A-Pretty-High-Up-Position._ They would be only below the Head Boy and Head Girl in standing. Rose had accepted with a beam, Scorpius with a _slightly_ less enthusiastic crooked smile.

* * *

Rose was sitting on the bleachers of the Quidditch pitch. She liked coming here. The October air was cool and crisp, and the chill in the air made her cheeks pink. She had her Advanced Herbology text on her lap, newly closed. She loved Herbology. She loved Professor Longbottom. He had always favoured her and Al – not so much Scorpius. But Neville was too good a man to ever hold a grudge forever, her mother had said.

Sorry.

 _Professor Longbottom._

Lost in her own thoughts, she was thrown out of her reverie by shrill giggles coming from behind her. She turned around, and felt her face flush with annoyance. It was Gwen Posey. Gwen had just arrived with a large group of her friends, and was babbling loudly.

'You _know_ it's true what they always say – Ravenclaws and Slytherins ALWAYS match nicely. And anyway, we've done it multiple times around the school and he tells me he's serious about me so I really think this is going all the way! I think he loves me!'

'Has he ever said it?' a curly haired blonde interjected.

'No, but he will,' replied Gwen wisely. 'I'm sure of it. And I love him too! I can't wait to tell him. But he has to tell me first, I won't sink to any levels..'

Rose stifled a laugh. Behind her, she felt the group stiffen – and she knew they had heard her. But Gwen carried on.

'I mean, why not, right? He could have any girl he wants, and he's chosen me. Much better than the sort his friends hang around with I'd say. Gryffindors and Slytherins don't mix. Never have, never will. And he's so ambitious and his family's so rich! Well maybe not that part..' she trailed off into a hearty laugh.

Rose got to her feet, and daintily turned toward them, clutching her Herbology book.

'Next time you wish to disregard a Gryffindor so casually,' she said with a grin, 'you should probably make sure it's not me. That'll be ten points from Ravenclaw, and twenty if you do it again.'

Walking away from the scene, she knew full well she was wrong for penalizing the girl as she had. But it had infuriated her to hear Gwen disregard her as though she was nothing. As though she was no one. Even this infuriation confused her. She was known to have a temper at times – but she had never had a problem with Gwen before. And she had never taken House points so haphazardly.

' _OOF!'_

She had walked straight into someone.

Of course! This was the stuff of novels.

Scorpius Malfoy.

She rearranged her book in her arms and made to skirt around him, but he blocked her way.

'Where you off to, Weasley?'

'I just took ten points off Ravenclaw because of your little girlfriend,' Rose spat. 'And if you don't get out of my way, I'll take fifty from Slytherin.'

'What's gotten into you?'

Scorpius was laughing, his eyes bright with surprise. 'I don't have a girlfriend. What on earth are you talking about?'

Rose felt very self satisfied. 'Well you'd want to tell Gwen that,' she said importantly. 'I just overheard her saying that she thinks you all are very serious, and you're close to dropping the _love_ bomb.'

'And you took ten points away for that?'

Rose felt like punching herself in the face.

'Yes well – she was loud. And she was badmouthing Gryffindors. She was badmouthing _me.'_

She felt herself desperately sinking into a hole of even more terrible justifications. Justifications that would only give Scorpius more ammunition to pick her apart with.

'What did she say?'

'I don't have to tell you!'

'I think you're forgetting we have equal power in this school. If you've done something unjustly, it's my duty to just as quickly take points from your house.'

Rose scowled. 'She just said that Gryffindors and Slytherins don't get along. She can't say that! That's fostering inter-house discord - and she said that she's prettier than the _sort_ of Gryffindors your friends hang around with – she called me ugly!'

'Since when do you care what other people say about you?'

'I DON'T!' Rose half-yelled. 'She was wrong. And you're annoying. End of. I'm going in. Let me pass.'

Scorpius was smiling at her, as he made a show of sweeping to the side so she could pass. Not a grin – a crooked smile. It seemed almost genuine.

'Well she's half right, Rosie,' he called out to her from behind. She didn't stop walking, but he had just called her _Rosie,_ and it slowed her down by a fraction.

'Gryffindors and Slytherins _do_ get along,' he continued – even further in the distance behind her. 'But as for the other part - Gwen's pretty and all, but if I'm honest, I've always had a thing for girls with blue eyes and red hair.'

When she turned back, he was gone.

 _ **Thanks for the feedback you guys! The reviews and responses really make me feel like people want to read more of what I've written. And you have all my thanks and appreciation. Please continue to give feedback! And I hope you continue to enjoy x**_


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